Which hospitals provide healthy meals that can prevent and even reverse chronic disease?
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine — a nonprofit of 12,000 providers — recently went on a quest to find out.
The committee obtained patient menus from 24 U.S. hospitals, analyzed the menus and then ranked the hospitals based on whether patient menus offer healthful fruits, vegetables, whole grains, cholesterol-free entrées and soy milk. Hospitals also earned points for Meatless Mondays, gardens and farmers markets, according to the committee's report.
Hospitals lost points if they have contracts with fast food restaurants such as Chick-fil-A, McDonald's and Wendy's.
According to the committee's report, Aspen (Colo.) Valley Hospital, which participates in Meatless Mondays and offers healthful entrées each day, and Stony Brook (N.Y.) University Hospital, which has a 2,242-square-foot organic rooftop garden that supplies vegetables and herbs for patient meals, both scored 90 points and tied for first place.
These and the other hospitals in the committee's report represent public and private hospitals ranging in size from dozens of beds to more than 1,000 beds. The final selection of hospitals was drawn from a list of 262 hospitals surveyed, including the 50 largest public hospitals and at least one hospital in every state.
Here are the top 12 hospitals and their patient food score.
Aspen Valley Hospital - 90 percent
Stony Brook University Hospital - 90 percent
C.S. Mott Children's Hospital at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) - 86 percent
Westchester Medical Center (Valhalla, N.Y.) - 86 percent
Wexner Medical Center (Columbus, Ohio) - 83 percent
St. Luke's Boise (Idaho) Medical Center - 82 percent
EvergreenHealth Monroe (Wash.) - 78 percent
Memorial University Medical Center (Savannah, Ga.) - 78 percent
Sibley Memorial Hospital (Washington, D.C.) - 78 percent
Eskenazi Hospital (Indianapolis) - 76 percent
Lexington (Neb.) Regional Health Center - 76 percent
Central Vermont Medical Center (Berlin) - 76 percent
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